Back in September we heard rumblings that the Rangers might be interested in Gerry Hunsicker to be their new general manager. The feeling was that if the Rangers decided to make a change, team president Nolan Ryan, would look to Hunsicker, with whom he has worked in the past with the Astros. It appears that Ryan has opted to stick with the incumbent GM, Jon Daniels, as any move would have been made by now.

Hunsicker, who is “Teller” to Andrew Friedman’s “Penn” (or “Silent Bob” to Friedman’s “Jay” for the younger crowd), is the quiet partner, but by all accounts just as responsible for the product seen on the FieldTurf. It is with great relief knowing that the front office nucleus will remain intact for at least one more season.DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Can we all calm down a little about the recent report from Peter Gammons that suggests teams have only recently discovered more telling defensive statistics. Will Carroll says teams have been looking at defensive stats and studies for years and that a lot of the work the teams do “simply blows away things you’d call the state of the art in sabermetrics.”…We are not sure why some think that most front offices are filled with old men that do nothing but read scouting reports from people in the field. If a blogger sitting in his mom’s basement can measure how many runs and wins a poor defensive player costs a team, we are pretty sure the people running a $500 million organization can figure it out also. So no, it is not such a “novel idea.” [Baseball Prospectus]

Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets are not interested in trading for Chad Bradford, saying his $3.5 million salary is too much for them. Sherman also notes that “at least a half-dozen teams” have shown interest in Rocco Baldelli. We know of four, including the Rays, Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees. [New York Post]

The Rays have set in motion plans to open the first MLB operated baseball academy in Brazil. The goal appears to be to increase the popularity of baseball in Brazil and attract athletes that might normally opt for other sports such as soccer or volleyball. [MLB]

Rays Prospects has an update on winter league stats for current and former Rays farmhands (and Willy Aybar). [Rays Prospects]